Sunday, January 13, 2013

The Needlework Police is Knocking

Hannah Breed has languished in my stitch stash for years! One of the reasons Hannah has languished in the stash is because I was afraid to start her! Fear #1 has been faced--Hannah has been started. My second fear and reason Hannah has been so long in waiting is because of the Queen stitches! Darlene O'Steen in her book The Proper Stitch says this about the Queen stitch.

Queen stitch, also known as rococo stitch, though time consuming, is one of the loveliest stitches found on works from the seventeenth century. When Queen stitch is pulled, a lacy effect is achieved, creating a stitch "fit for a queen." The resulting pattern of the Queen stitch is a diamond shape with center tacking stitches.

Before I tackled the Queen stitches on Hannah Breed, I got out my trusty, old faithful, doodle practice piece of linen and gave the Queen stitch the old college try. The first ones looked terrible! Since Hannah was nine years old when she stitched this sampler, I was not willing to concede defeat and continued stitching. Admittedly, the more stitches I made, the better looking they became. As is the case with most needlework, I believe the secret to the Queen stitch is the correct amount of tension. I will agree with Darlene the stitch is time consuming and uses lots of fiber.

I had big plans for the weekend up to and including cleaning out the leaves from the hellebore (Lenten Rose) bed. Mother Nature had other plans which included heavy rain and tornado warnings.

Am selecting fibers and linen for Stacy Nash's Christmas at Hollyberry Farm. I am changing the fibers from Gentle Arts Sampler threads to Needlepoint Silks, (because I enjoy stitching with Needlepoint Silks). I will be stitching Hollyberry on Weeks 35 count straw. I am determined to have a Christmas sampler for 2013!

Got to run, the doorbell is ringing, I suspect it is the Needlework Police coming to inspect my Queen stitches.

Good for you for tackling the queen stitches! Hannah has beautiful colors. And when you do your conversion for the Stacy Nash Christmas at HB Farm, would you share? I'd like to convert also; the feeling of silk through the fabric is just so much nicer.

Queen stitches can be fun if time consuming. You're smart to practice first. I did a whole bunch on a piece once. I think if you look carefully, you can probably tell where I started. lol! Looking forward to seeing more of Hannah and seeing your Hollyberry Farm too!